Sergeant Brandon Ruff has been a Philadelphia police officer for 8 years. During this time, according to his current brutality lawsuit against the department, Ruff witnessed his fellow officers maliciously prosecute and falsify charges against targeted individuals, and a city bureaucracy all too eager to ignore and even promote such behavior among the city's supposed public servants. The lawsuit stemmed from Ruff's decision to turn in hand guns to the 35th district police station in early August.

According to Ruff, he acquired these guns from his neighbor and wished to turn them in to police. The conflict seems to have begun from Ruff wishing to hand in the guns anonymously, which is only allowed by the Philadelphia police during gun buyback programs. During all other times, according to the Philadelphia police, the event would be filed like any other police report, requiring names and dates, etc. While the police's demand that Ruff identify himself and explain the guns may have been according to the law, the surprise beating Ruff then claims he suffered at the hands of seven 35th district officers, seems to be of more questionable legality. According to the suit, Ruff asked to make a phone call outside of the police station, a request which was presumably granted. It was at this point he claims he was assaulted by no less than seven men, who pressed tasers to his chest and demanded to see his firearm carry permit. Ruff claims he informed them that his status as a police officer sufficed as a gun permit. He was later admitted to a local hospital for injuries. According to Philly.com, Lieutenant John Stanford had this to say:

When you bring a gun to district, we want some background: your name and where it was found. You want to know where it came from.. That’s all going to be done. It’s like taking a regular police report. But the buybacks are different.

Stanford did not elaborate on how a seven man unprovoked beating would provide his department with the opportunity to get "some background." Police stations are thoroughly video recorded, which should logically mean that there is video evidence that would quite firmly deny or confirm Ruff's charges. Hopefully this evidence will be released to the public, by the Philadelphia public servants who are currently in possession of it.

Share this article

Louis James is an independent journalist and producer of the Save The
World Radio podcast. His purpose, in working with the Examiner, is
two fold. As a local musician, and long time collaborator with local
music fixture Mike Britt (Right Now! Recordings/Savage Rock School,
Blackwood, N.J) he offers unparalleled coverage of the south Jersey/
Philadelphia music scene. Also, as a keen observer of geopolitics and
outspoken critic of the false left-right political paradigm, Louis
James takes issues of global import and sheds light on how they affect
us right here in our own communities. He was born in Philadelphia PA, and has been a Gloucester County
resident since 1993.